Overall Orange alert Tropical Cyclone for NOUL-20
in Laos, Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia, China

Event summary

Tropical Cyclone NOUL-20 can have a medium humanitarian impact based on the maximum sustained wind speed, exposed population and vulnerability.

GDACS ID TC 1000717
Name NOUL-20
From - To 15 Sep - 18 Sep
Exposed countries Laos, Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia, China
Exposed population No people in Category 1 or higher
Maximum wind speed 93 km/h Tropical storm
Maximum storm surge 0.9 m (18 Sep 02:00 UTC)
Vulnerability High (Cambodia)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
Wind Storm surge Rainfall GDACS score
GDACS JTWC 74 km/h 0.9 m n.a. 1.5
Single TC: maximum expected impact (wind, storm surge, rainfall)
HWRF 140 km/h 1.2 m 986 mm 0.5
GFS 133 km/h 0.9 m 558 mm 0.5
ECMWF 90 km/h 0.9 m 734 mm 0.5
Maximum expected impact (wind, storm surge and rainfall) using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Vietnam - Tropical Storm NOUL (ECHO 16 Sep 2020)Wed, 16 Sep 2020 13:07

  • A new Tropical Storm named NOUL formed on 16 September over the eastern area of South China Sea. On 16 September, its centre was located over the sea approximately 250 km south-west of Busuanga Island (the Philippines), and 650 km south-east of Parcel Islands, with maximum sustained winds of 74 km/h.
  • NOUL is expected to strengthen, as it is moving north-west over South China Sea, passing south of Parcel Islands in the afternoon of 17 September, with maximum sustained winds up to 120 km/h. Afterthat, NOUL is forecast to reach the central coast of Vietnam in the early morning of 18 September, with maximum sustained winds up to 130 km/h.
  • Sea warnings have been issued for coastal Vietnam on 16 September. For the same day, moderate rainfall is forecast over most of Vietnam and heavy to very heavy rainfall, strong winds and storm surge are expected for areas from Ha Tinh to Quang Ngai Provinces (central Vietnam), on 17-19 September.
Vietnam, Laos - Tropical Storm NOUL update (ECHO 17 Sep 2020)Thu, 17 Sep 2020 13:06

  • Tropical Storm NOUL is strengthening as it moves north-west over  South China Sea. On 17 September at 0.00 UTC, its centre was located over the sea approximately 350 km south-east of Parcel Islands, and 550 km west of Qui Nhon City (coastal-central Vietnam) with maximum sustained wind of 83 km/h.
  • NOUL is expected to pass south of Parcel Islands in the morning of 17 September, and then it is expected to make landfall in the morning of 18 September over Thua Thien Hue Province (central Vietnam). After that, NOUL is forecast to move west over land, reaching southern Laos in the early afternoon of 18 September.
  • National authorities have started preparations to evacuate about 548,000 people across central coast provinces, ahead of the landfall. Copernicus EMS was activated in rapid mapping mode () on 16 September, to support damage assessment operations.
  • On 17-18 September, heavy to very heavy rainfall, thunderstorms are forecast for central areas of Vietnam, from Ha Tinh to Quang Ngai Provinces, and moderate to heavy rain is expected over central-south, and central-north provinces. 
Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia - Tropical Cyclone NOUL update (ECHO 18 Sep 2020)Fri, 18 Sep 2020 13:05

  • Tropical Cyclone NOUL continued to west over the South China Sea toward central Vietnam and made landfall over the coastal area between Dong Ha and Hue cities (Thua Thien Hue Province) on 18 September, as a tropical storm. On 18 September, its centre was located inland approximately 25 km south of Savannakhet Town (central Laos, close to the border with Thailand), as a tropical storm.
  • According to media, as of 18 September, more than 500,000 people are being evacuated in the central provinces of Vietnam.
  • NOUL is forecast to continue westward inland over eastern Thailand on 18 September and in the morning of 19 September, weakening, as a tropical depression.
  • The Copernicus EMS was activated in rapid mapping mode (EMSR464) on 16 September, to support damage assessment.
  • Over the next 24 hours, heavy rain to locally very heavy rain are forecast over central Vietnam, southern Laos, north-eastern and central Cambodia, as well as over eastern Thailand.
Detailed event map. European Union, 2024. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

Latest media headlines

Xinhua world news summary at 1030 GMT, Sept. 20 9/20/2020 5:09:00 PM.

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Xinhua world news summary at 1030 GMT, Sept. 20 9/20/2020 4:34:00 PM.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he expected a nominee to replace late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to be announced "next week," and that it will "most likely" be a woman. The president made the remarks t
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Xinhua world news summary at 1030 GMT, Sept. 20 9/20/2020 2:48:00 PM.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he expected a nominee to replace late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to be announced "next week," and that it will "most likely" be a woman. The president made the remarks t
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Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: UNOSAT (1), EMSR (2), EC-JRC (38), (2), WMO (1), INFORM (2),